Orthopedic mattress



April 22, 1952 R. JOHNSN 2,593,678

ORTHOPEDIC MATTRESS Filed Aug. 14, 1948 Patented pr. 223, .1952

ORTHOPEDIC MATTRESS Roy Johnson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to AmericanHospital Supply Corporation, Evanston, Ill., a corporation of Illinois ZClaims.

This invention relates to an orthopedic mattress. The mattress isparticularly useful in connection with hospital beds equipped withsegmental spring sections which are adjustable with relation to eachother.

An object of the invention is to provide a mattress which may beeiifectively employed for the treatment of patients for whom a more orless rigid bed support is desired. A further object is to provide amattress structure which is adjustable in diverging planes toaccommodate it to the shape of a segmental spring frame. Yet anotherobject is to provide a mattress having embodied therein slats or boardsarranged in edge to edge relation or in spaced relation in a singleplane to provide a relatively rigid support for a patient, etc. A stillfurther object is to provide a mattress equipped with reinforcing boardsor slats and with padding on opposite sides of the slats providing amattress which is more resilient on one side than on the other. Stillanother object is to provide a mattress equipped with a spring core andhaving reinforcing boards or slats on one side of the spring core andwith padding material about the springs and said boards. Still anotherobject is to provide a mattress structure in which there is embedded aplurality of slats or boards flexibly held together in edge to edgerelation by webbing, etc. Other specic objects and advantages willappear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated, in a specific embodiment, by theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side View in elevation of a mattress embodying my invention,the mattress being supported by an adjustable spring frame carried by ahospital bed; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken sectional view of the mattress;and Fig. 3, a broken top plan View of slats flexibly held together bywebbing straps.

In the illustration given, IU designates a mattress cover. Within themattress is supported a spring core II and the springs thereof may, ifdesired, be enclosed within fabric pockets or Within a fabric envelope.Above the spring core is a relatively .deep layer I2 of padding materialsuch as cotton felt, etc. The mattress may also be provided on itsinside with a border pad I3 encircling the spring core and the remainderof the inner body portion of the mattress.

Below the spring core l I are a plurality of slats or boards I4 whichare slightly spaced apart and flexibly secured together by the webbingstraps I5, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3. It will be understood thatthe boards i4 may be widely Application August 14, 1948, serial No.44,371

spaced or closely spaced as .desired and any suitable means formaintaining the boards in sub- Stantially a single plane may beemployed. `The webbing straps I 5 of canvas or other suitable materialare particularly effective in that they flexibly connect the slats whileat the same time dampen noise and permit edgewise Contact of the slats.Further, the web connections are effective in giving great transverseflexibility to the slat structure.

The boards I4 may be formed of wood, plastic or other suitable materialand may be rigid or slightly resilient, as desired. I prefer to userelatively narrow boards in the form of slats because the slats permit ahigh degree of transverse flexibility of the mattress while at the sametime providing a, relatively rigid supporting structure within themattress.

In Fig. 1 a hospital bed is indicated by the numeral I6 and upon the bedis supported a segmental frame structure Il. Means operated by thehandle I8 and other structures are provided for moving the segmental bedframe I1 into various angular positions. By employing relatively narrowslats I4, as illustrated, the mattress readily follows the angularlyadjusted segments of the spring frame, as shown more clearly in Fig. 1.At the same time, the slats I4 provide the desired rigidity or rmsupport.

Below the slat layer Ill is provided a relatively thin padding layer I9formed of cotton felt, etc. By having a relatively thin layer of paddingmaterial on one side of the slats and a spring core and relatively thicklayer I2 of padding material on the other side, the mattress may be usedin reverse positions to give either an extremely rigid or rm support ora firm but less rigid support. When the mattress is used as illustratedin Fig. 1, the patient has the benet of the padding layer I2 and thespring core I l in cushioning the effect of the relatively rigid slatsI4. When the mattress is reversed from the position shown in Fig. 2, thepatient would have the benefit of a rm support in which only the layerI9 is interposed between the mattress cover and the slats I4. The entireseries of slats I4, however, would be supported resiliently upon thespring core II.

The individual slats I Il are found to provide an excellent support forthe individual spring core of the mattress while at the same time, theconnecting web members I5 permit a ilexing or shifting of position ofthe slats to accommodate themselves to the individual springs bearingagainst them. The slats I4 may be secured together obviously by othermeans and, if desired,

may be simply supported in spaced relation within the confined areabetween the springs and the padding body I9. I prefer, however, toconnect the slats with the webbing members illustrated for the specialadvantages owing therefrom as above set out. The slats are kept inspaced relation and prevented from striking each other while at the sametime a slight turning or adjustment of each slat is made possible withrespect to the springs and other members bearing against them. Further,in bending the mattress into different shapes upon the hospital springbed frame, this structure permits accurate flexing of the slats whileretaining them in the desired and effective spaced relation.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specificstructure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating oneembodiment of my invention, it will be understood that such details ofstructure may be varied Widely by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention,

I claim:-

1. A mattress comprising a seriesl of relatively 4 narrow slats arrangedin edge to edge relation, webbing straps interlaced between said slatsto unite the same in spaced apart relation, a mattress body about saidslats, and a cover enclosing said body.

2. A mattress comprising a series of slats, webbing straps interlacedwith the end portions of the slats to exibly unite them in edge to edgerelation, a spring core upon said slats, padding about said spring coreand said slats, and a mattress cover enclosing said core, slats andpadding.

ROY JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

